Constance was the prettiest doll in the collection of Miss Emily Hawthorne, who lived in a big house in Philadelphia that her father built years and years ago. Miss Hawthorne's father was a very wealthy man who owned the biggest department store in the city, and he loved to buy her dolls when she was a little girl.A long time ago Miss Hawthorne had played with Constance every day. She had dressed her in pretty outfits and had tea parties with her, and curled up next to Constance in bed every night.Nowadays, though, Constance spent most of her time in a big mahogany display case with the other dolls. Miss Hawthorne had never married or had children of her own, and she was too old to play with dolls, so she put her doll collection in the big case and took them out once a year, when she invited the neighborhood girls in for a tea party at Christmastime.This Christmas was an especially important time to bring the dolls out, too. It was December of 1937, the start of a particularly bleak winter. There were many people out of work, and groups of men took to traveling around the country looking for anyplace where they could find enough work to pay for a little food, so they could survive another day. Every day people would come to the back door of Miss Hawthorne's mansion and ask for food, and the cook, a big red-faced woman named Annie, had Miss Hawthorne's permission to feed them.There were rumblings of war in Europe, and people were weighed down by events.Children know when their parents are worried, and it makes them afraid, because if parents are worried, the world seems unhinged, and the very ground under a child's feet seems to vanish.This is where a doll comes in handy, because dolls help children take their minds off troubling events in their lives. Most dolls are happy to do this, but Constance had no feeling for it. She thought her job was simply to be pretty, and that people liked her because of her blonde hair, her tiny little red lips, and her beautiful pink satin dresses.This year Miss Hawthorne had invited a dozen girls to come to her tea party, and they all arrived laughing and bringing that special glow that little girls have. The house seemed brighter, and there was happiness in the air. There were Christmas wreaths everywhere, and gingerbread houses, and the smell of cinnamon and spices, and a ten-foot Blue Spruce tree in the parlor with candy canes and ribbons on it. Miss Hawthorne and Annie had prepared a lovely afternoon, with teacakes and cookies and little sandwiches and many other good things. All the dolls were primped and prettied, and Constance had her spot at the head of the table, because of course she was the prettiest doll.The girls were all situated in the dining room, chattering away and laughing gaily, when Annie came in and whispered in Miss Hawthorne's ear."There's something you need to see in the kitchen," she said.